Vote Delay Urged on Balanced Budget

Congress should delay a vote on the balanced-budget amendment to avoid what could be a crushing defeat, House Budget Committee Chairman John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) said. “You don’t want to take a vote if you don’t think you are going to win,” Kasich said on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation.” The Senate is heading toward a vote as early as this week on a proposal to amend the Constitution to require the federal government to operate in balance. In order to get the 67 votes, or two-thirds majority, supporters must capture both of the last two fence sitters, Democratic freshmen Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Robert Torricelli of New Jersey.